until 17.11. | #2248ARTatBerlin | Galerie Wagner + Partner currently shows the exhibition Portrait Extended – Six Positions to Our Self with works of the artists Alexandra Baumgartner, Nezaket Ekici, Emel Geris, Csilla Klenyánski, Soline Krug and Natascha Stellmach.
Triggered by our hypermodern lifestyle, questions about the individual production of meaning become compulsory. At the same time old traditional contexts of meaning, patterns of interpretation, landmarks are dissolved, they merge into each other and are different / new. Often, only the means of self-assurance seem certain.
A look into the social media shows how this is structured: The pursuit of uniqueness as an expression of the respective individual personality is characterized by a constant search for meaning and identity, attributes that are associated with certain fashion and sports trends, music and art exhibitions , the choice of the right food – we meanwhile “curate” everything that comes under our noses; Everything ultimately succumbs to this ideal of the supposedly self-determined.
But to what extent is this ideal a fallacy? In the group exhibition Portrait Extended the artists take into account the search for identity, image and origin. To what extent are we self-determined or externally determined? How much power does the past have for today’s life? On the other hand, the staging of the self in the exhibition on the other side is confronted with social debates, but also with transitoriness.
Soline Krug, Self-Dating, 2018, installation with video (lecture performance),
courtesy WAGNER + PARTNER
Alexandra Baumgartner (*1973) has made the objet trouvé socially acceptable again: found material is processed in such a way that important image information disappears; the viewer can not read anything and is thrown back on himself. The series of photo collages shown in the exhibition depicts the function of portraits absurdum; while man passes, only the image structure remains.
Nezaket Ekici (*1970) always explores in her art the various roles that are intended for her. The body acts as a narrative instrument; No matter if performance, installation or video art, all her works revolve around the question of who (what) determines – and about cultural identity.
Emel Geris (*1980) is particularly interested in the ambivalence of existence. With its mystical-mythical interior views, which often contain art-historical quotes, it brings the viewer to reflect the transience and fragility of human existence. At the same time, these spaces seem like mirrors of the inner life of a (female) self, which feeds on its own and appropriated images and forms new chains of associations.
Csilla Klenyánszki (*1986) explores in her works the metaphorical as well as physical understanding of an equilibrium, which she seeks to establish in performative interactions with her playful-experimental approach. She reflects on the different roles of women in society. Her 30-minute sculptures z. For example, during the afternoon nap of her toddler, she stages the only period during the day that she, as a young mother, remains to work artistically.
Soline Krug (*1984) creates with her lecture performances monologues with surrealistic, because without recipient, character. These circle around self-discovery and self-assertion, whereby Krug always wants to preserve the source of good art, namely to remain alien to himself. She is currently participating in the exhibition “Goldrausch” in Berlin.
Natascha Stellmach (*1970), for many years firmly in the program of the gallery, mixes personal and biographical with popcultural, historical or fictional aspects with her often provocative works and thus creates an atmosphere that illuminates human weaknesses and lets one dive into dark realms.
Opening: Friday, 12th October 2018, 7 – 9 pm
Exhibition period: Friday, 12th October – Saturday, 17th November 2018
[maxbutton id=”11″]
Image caption: Soline Krug, Self-Dating, 2018, installation with video (lecture performance), courtesy WAGNER + PARTNER
Exhibition Portrait Extended – Galerie Wagner + Partner | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin